Tag Archives: ganache

Let’s start the first week of the new year in style! Despite all the healthy eating that is about to ensue, it’s important to have a classy, spectacular dessert on the ready. This is that dessert. I don’t do a lot of “dinner party” desserts like cakes or pies or full cheesecakes because they can be difficult to serve and are not very portable.

Also, they are a lot of work and not always worth the effort. This cheesecake is simple, stunning, and totally worth the effort. Trust me on this one – a show-stopping dessert in three easy steps!

First we start with my favorite brownie recipe as a base. It’s rich, full of chocolate flavor, and ease when made in a saucepan on the stove. Next, the no-bake cheesecake portion whips up in a flash in the stand mixer and is smooth and creamy. Mini chocolate chips add a bit of crunch. Obviously the cheesecake needs a topping and it’s ganache to the rescue; a soft and decadent treat on top.

This brownie cheesecake was shared with college friends at our annual holiday gathering and was a hit! A little slice goes a long way. I personally enjoyed the cheesecake cold, for breakfast, throughout the week. But who doesn’t enjoy cheesecake for breakfast, lol!

In a medium saucepan melt the butter, 1/2 cup sugar, water, and instant coffee. When melted add in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and stir until combined and melted.

Add in the eggs and vanilla one at a time and stir to combine. Add in the flour, soda, and salt mixing until just combined.

Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18-20 minutes until the top is shiny and a toothpick comes out almost clean. DO NOT OVER BAKE!

Let cool completely.

Cheesecake Layer – In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream until you reach stiff peaks. Transfer to another bowl.

Add the cream cheese and 1 cup sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, no need to clean the whipped cream out of the bowl. Beat together until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.

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Here is a little peak into what I learned this weekend – I am not a party girl. There were plenty of weekends in my early-mid twenties where I could stay out late for multiple nights in a row and be social for days. Apparently not anymore and I am feeling it today.

Not that my “wild” weekend wasn’t worth it; it was a fantastic weekend. And by wild I mean an all day spa service and champagne drinking type of situation. Wild just got classy! All those weekends of laying around and resting do not work as a banking system I can withdraw from when needed! Needless to say, this is going to be a lazy week.

Sometimes, when things are less busy, you want to make a cupcake with a lot of steps. Lots of steps equals good times in the kitchen. Sometimes you also need a small batch recipe that only yields six cupcakes. These cupcakes were so tasty, I could’ve eaten twelve, but my pants can’t handle that situation! Also, these cupcakes feature a new cooking method! Those feel rare these days.

Caramelized white chocolate is a thing, an awesome thing. Baking white chocolate until it becomes caramelized is super easy and changes the flavor of white chocolate from lackluster to spectacular. All of a sudden the white chocolate has depth of flavor, nutty notes, and an amazing richness. The possibilities for caramelized white chocolate are endless!

I made these cupcakes for Danielle because Jackie told me she liked Oreos and white chocolate; an excellent combination. Think of this as a fancy-fied cookies and cream cupcakes. The cake is rich and moist with a crunchy cookie on the bottom. The frosting is sweet and flavorful. As an added bonus, you can’t go wrong with caramelized white chocolate in the middle and drizzled on top. These are definitely a special occasion cupcake or a cupcake to make an average day feel special!

Caramelized White Chocolate Ganache – Reduce the oven temperature to 225 ˚F and cover a baking sheet with foil. Chop up the chocolate and place it on the foil.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes total, removing the chocolate every five minutes to stir the chocolate with rubber spatula. When the chocolate turns golden brown stop.

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until just warm. Add the caramelized white chocolate and stir until well combined. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Frosting – Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until light and creamy, for about 2-3 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar and salt and beat until fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup of the caramelized white chocolate ganache.

Assembly – Carve a cone in the top of each cupcake and fill with 1 1/2-2 teaspoons of the caramelized white chocolate ganache. Cut the tip off the cones and place the top back on the cupcake.

Add the frosting to a piping bag and pipe a swirl on top of each cupcake.

Cut Oreos in half and place one half on each cupcake.

Drizzle with the remaining caramelized white chocolate ganache over the top.

Store in the fridge, but bring to room temperature before serving.

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Tracy of Shutterbean has a little phrase she often throws around on her blog – “Can’t stop, won’t stop.” and that is exactly how I feel about ice cream. I literally ate all the rocky road ice cream single handedly and as soon as it was finished I whipped up a batch of this ice cream.

Even though I’ve had an ice cream maker for over a year, this is my first attempt at vanilla ice cream. I’m kind of vanilla in many areas of my life but NOT when it comes to ice cream. For example, my wardrobe is quite vanilla. I favor solids and simple prints, cotton dresses and flip-flops. Accessories are somehow really difficult for me.

Yet when it comes to ice cream and baked goods I’m all about accessories. Plain vanilla ice cream – BORING!! Luckily I had a quart of man whore bar trimmings in the freezer begging to be put into something wonderful. You know when you’re trimming bars for a pretty presentation and you’re usually tempted to eat all the edges? Well gather some self-control and freeze those bad boys for later use.

Trimmed edges make the BEST mix-ins for ice cream. You’re eating a smooth, creamy, decadent ice cream and then BOOM, a delicious bite of an amazing baked good. Waste not, want not – word.

Anyway, vanilla ice cream maybe a little boring, but throw in a little something special inside and you have yourself a marvelous, cold treat for the hottest days of summer. You won’t regret your decision to mix all your leftover treats in your ice cream, trust me!

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Whenever Ruth’s birthday comes around I choose the most difficult dessert/dinner on my wish list of things to make. One year it was a 2-day fish taco extravaganza, another year it was my first 5-layered (leaning) cake with each layer featuring a different fruit filling, and last year was the over-the-top chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake cake.

What can I say, Ruth is a good friend and totally worth it! On the Sprinkle Bakes website this is a 7-sins layer cake. I knew I wasn’t up for a layer cake, so my original though was layered cake in jars. Great in theory except I only have 16-ounce jars, so this entire recipe would have made about 3 servings. I don’t know about you, but that’s a tad much for me.

Of course I realized the mason jars wouldn’t work while I was just starting the assembly, so I started looking around the kitchen for other ideas. Luckily we had plastic champagne flutes and small tumblers from our New Year’s Eve party. The flutes look elegant and cool, perfect for a fancy party. The tumblers are still cute and way easier to eat from!

There are a lot of steps, but none of them are difficult. This recipe takes a little bit of time, but it is all totally worth it. I made the cake the night before so it was cool and ready to go for assembly. The pastry creams MUST be made the day before so they have adequate time to chill and develop flavors. Making the three different pastry creams is high the awesome scale. Yes you dirty a lot of bowls, but having so many flavors in one dish is a delightful treat to eat.

Just before you are ready to assemble it takes a few minutes to make the frosting and ganache topping. Assemble however you want. This would be awesome to layer in a large trifle dish for a big party or in little cups for easy grabbing. I still think this would look amazing layered in a jar, but use 8-ounce jars!

Here is your next, probable questions – do all these layers and flavors actually taste good? Yes! The chocolate cake is light and flavorful and provides a great support for all the pastry creams. Speaking of pastry creams, they are all spectacular on their own, like you could just eat them with a spoon, no cake needed! Each one has a distinct flavor whether dulce de leche, espresso, or dark chocolate. Each bite can be a little different. The milk chocolate marshmallow buttercream frosting is intensely sweet and the chocolate ganache pulls all the flavors together.

Best of all, the dessert holds its own. The little cups are portable and easy to take out to dinner to celebrate a birthday and can survive the craziest of cab rides home. They last in the fridge too. Like a week later I could still eat a leftover one and it tasted just as fresh as when I made them! This is the dessert to make when you want to impress your friends!

Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F and grease two cookie sheets. Line with parchment paper and grease that too.

Whisk together the chocolate, cocoa, and hot coffee in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Whisk in half the chocolate mixture and set aside as well.

Add the flour, brown sugar, soda, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. On low speed, mix all the ingredients. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix in the other half of the chocolate mixture for about 30 seconds and then raise the speed and mix again for 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl as needed.

Add the egg mixture in two parts, first on low speed and then increase the speed to medium for about 45 seconds. Scrape the bowl as needed, you want the batter to be fluffy.

Divide the batter in half and spread evenly on each cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the cake is set but before the edges are crispy. Allow to cool on the pan.

Chop each chocolate individually and evenly and add to three separate bowls. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together the cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk. Whisk in each egg and egg yolk individually. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk and the sugar over low heat until the mixture boils. Whisk continually.

Temper the eggs by adding a little of the hot milk mixture while whisking the eggs. Once the eggs are hot, pour the eggs + milk into the saucepan and heat and whisk until the mixture thickens and boils.

Run the pastry cream through a fine sieve.

Divide the pastry cream between each bowl of chopped chocolate. Stir to melt the chocolate.

Add one tablespoon of butter to each bowl and again stir to melt & combine.

Add the whiskey to the dark chocolate, the espresso to the milk chocolate, and the dulce de leche to the white chocolate. Stir each mixture to combine. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the pastry creams and refrigerate overnight. Make the night before!

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Teddy is my co-teacher and we share the best class ever. And by best I mean the class that makes me want to pull all my hair out and lock myself in a padded room. But somehow we’ve gotten through the year, only a few more days until the kiddos graduate, at least most of the kiddos. Yesterday I bribed to kids to participate with cookies, store bought cookies, true story.

Teddy’s actual birthday was in February and made him terrible vegan cupcakes, the ones people spit out. I knew he was due for a redo, but it took me a while to figure out what to make to compensate for something so horrific. Man whore bars – perfect!

I doubt Teddy is a man whore, but any male teacher gets to play the roll as we work in a female dominated profession. Lunch most days consists of several ladies and one or two token men; they love it!

Man whore bars are a take on the slutty brownie. Women need not be continually shamed for their practices while men get off without a second thought for their behavior. What women do or do not do is no one’s business; slut shaming should stop especially when men can be sluts too. All seriousness aside, here is the answer to a slutty brownie – a man whore bar with more layers of naughtiness.

We start with a chocolate chip cookie dough bottom. I chose store bought dough, which is a rare occurrence in my life, shocking I know, but I felt it justifiable. Next is Oreos. Oreos are round and leave gaps. By cutting them in half and carefully arranging them, there is better coverage. When Oreos are baked in bars or cupcakes they become softer and better. Covering the Oreos in brownie batter ensured the Oreos would be perfectly soft and baked into the brownies.

If you stopped here, you would have a perfectly lovely slutty brownie, but we’re not stopping, we’re taking things farther, too far even. Chocolate and peanut butter? YES! Some gooey rice crispy treats to hold in the peanut butter cups? Absolutely. All that is needed is a little ganache to hold it all together. Done. Open your mouth and take a big bite. It’s OK to be a whore, sometimes you need all the desserts at once!

Let cool slightly and then stir in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla.

Stir in the flour, soda, and salt until just combined.

Pour over the Oreos and spread evenly.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the brownies are set.

While the brownies are baking, unwrap and chop up the Reese’s peanut butter cups.

Also make the rice crispy treats by melting the marshmallows and 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pot. Stir in the cereal to coat

Spread the Reese’s as evenly as possible over the hot brownies. Things will get melty, but that’s fantastic!

Press the rice crispy treats as gently as possible over the melting peanut butter cups. The whole bar will feel soft, but keeping pressing and spreading as evenly as possible.

Let the bars cool for about 20 minutes.

To make the ganache, heat the cream until scalding and then pour over the 8 ounces of chocolate. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes and then stir to melt. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of butter and salt.

Spread over the top of the rice crispy treats.

All the bars to cool and harden overnight in the fridge.

Trim the rounded edges of the bars and then cut into pieces. These are tall, dense, and rich pieces, so smaller pieces are better. Let people eat two small pieces rather than not finishing a piece that is too large.

Store in the fridge.

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Death by chocolate is not a bad way to die. If you’ve ever watched The Tudors, you know all the worse ways to die: beheading, boiled alive, burned for heresy, and worst – hung till half-dead, quartered, and then beheaded. No thanks. Let’s talk of happy things.

Here are some happy things I would like to discuss: 3-day weekends, hanging out with my maj in Atlanta, awkward conversations about baking with administration, spinach rolls, happy hour with strong pours of bourbon, and cupcakes. All happy, nothing about death or the loss of bowels.

Fatema is an amazing woman, mother, teacher, and friend. She is a lady that gets things done when she puts her mind to it. Recently she has worked hard, sacrificed, and lost a lot of weight. She has always looked fantastic, but now she glows. Anyway, when she started this regime, she told me she wouldn’t be having any treats until her birthday. That’s a lot of pressure. Last year I made Fatema the infamous 50 Shades of Grey Cupcakes…

So what better to ruin a diet than death by chocolate? Death to the diet!!! As a side note, when ending a pattern of healthy eating, proceed with caution. Diving into butter and chocolate laden desserts can lead to unpleasant consequences.

A death by chocolate cupcake is a wonderful thing to have around. The cake is moist and tender with delicious chocolate flavor. A chocolate ganache in the middle adds extra decadence, flavor, and chocolate. The dark chocolate frosting is the best, seriously the best. It’s not a Swiss meringue, but the frosting is creamy, rich, and not overly sweet. And how can can you go wrong with a pound of chocolate? Overall, this is a delightful cupcake sure to ruin any diet!

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One last holiday recipe, it’s January 11th and I’m finally done posting all my Christmas cookie and holiday treat recipes. I would say it’s time for some healthy, whole foods, because it is time, buuuuuut that’s not happening at my house. There is still plenty of dangerous baking going on around here; January has a quite a few birthdays that simply require cupcakes.

My New Year’s Resolution is simple – each month I will pick one area of my life and focus on improving that area for the month. This month it is working out. My goal, not resolution, is to run or workout at least three times a week with another walk or two thrown in. Right after a good sweat I feel fantastic, but trying to motivate myself is another story…

If you have been following the blog since the summer, you hopefully haven’t noticed the sad excuse for a Recipe Index. It was not well organized or maintained. This past week I’ve been working to update things, SO GO THERE NOW!!!! It’s not fancy, but it has a picture each recipe I’ve posted with a link. It’s a Pinterest board of me.

These cupcakes were made for the dessert tray at my family Christmas party. My dad’s side of the family always meets up on a non-holiday day to celebrate Christmas and it’s kind of awesome – family, food, and drinks without the obligations of the actual holiday. Also on the tray were naughty bars and gingerbread cupcakes, please notice this week’s blogging theme.

The candy cane cheesecakes are not in-your-face minty. They have the sweetness and peppermint-ness of candy canes, not mint leaves. The crust is perfectly crunchy and provides contrast to the silky cheesecake on top. A little swirl of rich, creamy, decadent chocolate ganache never hurt anyone and it pulls the mini cheesecakes all together. Keeping the cheesecakes in individual cupcake wrappers make these desserts super easy to serve for a party!